But I Need to Breathe Too
by monchele
Summary: He fell asleep, holding his baby daughter in his arms and dreaming of the perfect family and how his life could be different if he had someone who actually loved him. AU, for Finchel Month.


**A/N:** Normally it's Rachel as a single mother, but I decided to spin it around just for Finchel Month.

* * *

He loved his little baby girl. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he loved his baby girl. She was his whole entire world, and whenever she smiled, his heart just completely melted in his chest. Hannah was a six month old, blonde-haired, brown-eyed beauty. She was the spitting image of her mother, and Hannah loved her mother to pieces. If only her mother shared that same love for her.

As soon as Quinn had discovered that she was pregnant, she had panicked, and almost tried for an abortion. Finn wasn't going to have any of it, and they even went to counselling for it. The decision came that they would have the baby, and Finn thought they were going to be one big happy family, with Finn and his job in the office and her job in the fashion industry. They were going to be okay; he was _so sure_ they were going to be okay.

But of course he thought that far too soon.

Just as Hannah was born, Quinn became tired and irritable and genuinely freaked out whenever Hannah cried or even made a sound. Finn had read that it was usually the first time fathers that became freaked when a baby was born, because they didn't think they could be good enough for the baby. Quinn had never given him any encouragement, or reassurance that he would be a good father. She didn't seem to care about him at all. But he loved her, and he wanted a family.

He had been blinded by love and the want of a baby that he was oblivious to what was happening around him.

Quinn had become distant, and spent less time at home with Finn and Hannah. And when she was at home, she wasn't really _there_. She made excuses to have anything to do with the baby and Finn found himself taking more care of Hannah than Quinn did. He got up every time she cried throughout the night, and he always fed her, and he always changed her – and it was like Quinn did nothing to help her.

Finn should've known one day she would leave.

He should have been expecting it, and he should've been prepared for it. But he wasn't, and he didn't know how to be. He didn't know how to adjust to becoming a single father and looking after Hannah alone. And one day, she was just gone, she just couldn't deal with it anymore, and Finn didn't know whether to be concerned or broken or happy or a mixture of all three. She filed for divorced four months after Hannah was born.

The woman he loved had broken his heart, divorced him, and left him to care for their six month old girl. He didn't know what he was going to do, with his job, and how he was going to be a good father to Hannah at the same time. For the first month he was completely lost, and he unsuccessfully juggled time at work and with Hannah. Thankfully, his step-brother Kurt's husband Blaine were able to look after Hannah on most days, as he was currently in between jobs while Kurt was working on an off-Broadway production, since obviously she wasn't old enough for pre-school and Finn was paranoid about leaving her with a stranger.

Two months passed, and it was still incredibly hard for Finn, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He didn't want Hannah's mother around if she didn't love her and she wasn't going to help take care of her. It had hurt, that during the divorce, Quinn said she didn't want any sort of custody of Hannah, but Finn was ready to take on being a full-time single parent. He had never loved anyone more than he loved his little girl, and she was going to have a long and full life if he had anything to say about it. She was beautiful and healthy and happy – so she deserved the best life Finn could offer her.

* * *

A few days around the time Hannah was seven months old, she had been crying a lot, and Finn wasn't sure how to get her to stop. He had taken her to the doctor, and he had picked up a slight fever, and he was sure she was quite sick. So Finn had taken a week off work to take care of her.

He was trying to put her down to sleep, because she had been restless all day, but she still had a fever and was just crying and crying and crying. He was dressed in only sweatpants, as he had just had a shower and Hannah would just _not_ settle down. He was holding her against his chest, gently murmuring things to her as he tried to rock her to sleep in his arms. She couldn't speak yet – but she was babbling her own words that didn't make sense. Finn smiled; he couldn't help it, his little girl was adorable.

Sometimes he was worried about the fact that she couldn't speak yet, but his mother had told him that he was a late speaker as well. He couldn't wait for her first words, her first steps, everything that a parent looks forward to in the life of his child.

He carried her into his bedroom, and lay her down on the bed. She seemed to sleep better when she was in the bed with him, but he didn't want her to get used to that. For tonight though, he thought it would be okay. She was sick and he didn't want her to be alone.

Sometimes he hated that he was such a paranoid parent.

Once he lay down on his bed to go to sleep, she curled up next to him, her tiny hand grabbing his arm to make sure he would stay there next to her. Finn pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, and pulled the covers up over both of them. Sometimes, late at night like this, he would think about Quinn, and what she was doing (or who she might be with). And sometimes he wondered if he was ever going to trust anyone the way he trusted Quinn again, especially now that he had Hannah.

He fell asleep, holding his baby daughter in his arms and dreaming of the perfect family and how his life could be different if he had someone who actually loved him.

* * *

Puck told him that after Quinn had Hannah, Finn had become soft. After Quinn had left, Finn had realised that it probably was true. He was basically Hannah's mother _and_ father now, and yeah, he was kind of 'soft' but if having and loving his baby daughter made him soft, then so be it. He wasn't going to apologise for becoming who he was today. He remembered being weak when Quinn had left, but now he was strong and he and Hannah together were a family.

So yeah, Puck kind of did snort on the phone when Finn had told him he couldn't hang out with him that day because he had made a picnic for him and Hannah. She had been sick and he still had a couple of days off left that he could spend with her. His best friend spent the rest of the time on the phone teasing him and calling him a girl, but Finn tuned out for most of it. Puck hadn't gained an ounce of maturity since high school.

Secretly, he'd rather spend his day with his daughter than with Puck anyway. But he didn't tell him that.

He had packed some food for himself as well as some of Hannah's baby food, and had put her in the child seat in his car. Quinn had hated his car, and she almost made him buy a more family-oriented one. Thank God he didn't have to do that in the end. What could he say? He loved his car. And it was totally safe for Hannah, so he didn't need to worry about that. He had been really lucky, he didn't have to compromise a lot of the things he had after Quinn left. Sometimes he thought it was better Quinn had left and he could do things his way. He and Quinn never agreed on anything. But she had wounded him much deeper than just divorcing him and breaking his heart – he couldn't trust anyone anymore. It was just Finn and Hannah. Nobody else was allowed in that.

It was a beautiful day, and once Finn and Hannah had arrived at Central Park, it was around lunch time, and there were quite a few people wandering around and sitting down to eat lunch. It didn't take long for Finn to find a spot, and he sat Hannah down on the picnic blanket under the shade of a nearby tree. He liked days like this – when he didn't have anything to worry about besides watching Hannah and he could just sit and eat and relax. There were no job pressures or anything weighing him down today and he could just focus on spending time with his daughter.

They spent an hour sitting there, and Finn fed Hannah, and she would just giggle and turn her head away whenever he tried to get her to open her mouth. Sometimes she was a pain to feed (she obviously didn't inherit his appetite), but she was still adorable. She was beginning to eat solids now, but only once or twice a day, and that was usually for dinner. After she had finished eating, she just lay on her blanket in the sun, sucking at her bottle which he had brought with the baby milk formula with it (because obviously she wasn't able to be breastfed).

She was a good kid, mostly she just sat there giggling a lot and rolling around on the blanket and trying to grab a hold of Finn's shirt. After a while, he lay back with her, watching her as he tried tickling her stomach, hearing her erupt into a loud laughter and roll around even more. In an attempt to get away from him, Hannah rolled on to her stomach and tried to crawl away from him, out towards the grass.

"Hannah," he warned but all he could do was chuckle. She hadn't quite got the crawling part down yet so she was sometimes a little lopsided and unable to put her hands and knees in front of the other in a rhythm that worked. He watched her as she continued to crawl out in the open grass, taking in her surroundings and feeling the grass with her tiny hands.

When he finally realised she was about to crawl into a group of people though, he quickly jumped up, hurried over to her and scooped her up in his arms. "No, baby, you can't go over there." He chuckled, tapping her nose which only made her giggle again. He held her up and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're really just curious, aren't you?"

He suddenly became aware of something in his peripheral vision, so he frowned and turned to see a woman watching them only a few metres away, biting her lip and trying to suppress a smile. Finn raised his eyebrow at her; this wasn't creepy at all.

"Can I help you?" He asked slowly.

"Oh! Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to stare." The woman shook her head and apologised, and Finn could see her face turn bright red with embarrassment. "I just, um... Your daughter is beautiful, that's all. And I've never seen a father so... you know what, I'm just going to stop talking." She laughed, and it kind of reminded Finn of Hannah's, it was adorable.

"Oh, no, it's not a problem." Finn chuckled; mostly with relief, because he didn't want some tiny, crazy woman stalking him and his child. Well, some tiny, crazy, _beautiful_ woman with deep brown eyes and full lips that he just wouldn't mind...

No. Not a good thought to be having. Especially right now.

"Well... I'm sorry for disturbing you. I should probably let you get back to your lunch." She managed a small smile and nodded slightly, but she was still avoiding his gaze. He could tell she was still embarrassed about the whole thing and Finn couldn't help but feel horrible about it.

"Hey, wait." He waited until she turned around and he flashed her a smile. "I'm Finn. And this is Hannah."

She smiled shyly and shook her head again. "Rachel. I'm sorry for acting so strange." She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself. She had no idea why she was behaving this way. Just something about seeing this man with his daughter made her heart beat unevenly in her chest and made her ache for something just like that. She was twenty-four, and she had never really had a proper relationship with anyone. She had dated, and she had had on and off flings with people, but she had never even felt loved by a man before. Maybe something about Finn had made her jealous. Who knows. "It's nice to meet you. And you too, Hannah." She smiled as she looked at the beautiful girl in his arms. "She's gorgeous."

"Yeah, she is." He agreed, smiling down at Hannah before looking over at Rachel again. "She, uh, she looks just like her mother."

"Her mother must be beautiful. How long have you two been together?" She asked with a genuine smile.

"I -" Finn looked down, feeling that familiar ache in his chest return. "I-I have to go. I'm sorry, Rachel. I just- I have to go." He said quickly, moving back over to his things on the grass and packing them up as best he could with one hand.

"Finn, wait..."

"I'm sorry. I have to go." He repeated, not looking at her and not knowing what else to say before he grabbed his bag and walked quickly away from Rachel and out of Central Park, leaving her confused and disappointed behind him.

* * *

Rachel didn't know what she had done wrong. She had always been told she was intimidating and upfront about a lot of things but she thought she had been relatively calm and collected while talking to Finn. Things seemed to get weird when Rachel had asked him about Hannah's mother. Maybe that was too personal for her to ask? He probably already thought she was a stalker after she had been standing there staring at the two of them together.

She couldn't help that she found fathers and their daughters extremely endearing. Nothing made her heart swell more than seeing a happy and gorgeous family. But she seemed to screw things up with Finn, so maybe she did ask too many personal questions.

It had been a few days since the incident in Central Park, and she was currently on her lunch break from work. Being a budding young performer on the verge of stardom was hard work, but she wouldn't have changed it for the world. She was currently on her way to Starbucks for coffee, as she had wasted a lot of time at the theatre and didn't have time for an actual meal.

She had just walked in and ordered, and she mindlessly began tapping her fingers on the counter as she waited. She didn't have a lot of time and she still had a couple of songs left to rehearse before going home for the day. As she continued to wait, she glanced around the shop - it was quite busy at this time of day, as it was lunch time - and Rachel was about to turn back to check how her coffee was doing when she caught a familiar face.

Once her coffee was ready, she cautiously but casually made her way over to the table where she saw the gorgeous, tall, broad-shouldered man from Central Park.

"Finn?"

He almost jumped in surprise as he turned, wide-eyed when he saw it was Rachel standing in front of him. "Rachel! Wh-What are you doing here?" It was obvious what she was doing there but that seemed to be the safest thing to say at the current time.

"Coming to get coffee. It's my lunch break. What are you doing here?" She asked with a smile. It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see him there. Maybe she could get a second shot at this after all.

"Oh, it's my last day off before going back to work so I just thought..." He shrugged, looking down at his coffee. "You can sit, if you want."

Rachel smiled shyly, moving to sit down opposite him. She played with the lid of her coffee cup as they sat in a sort of awkward silence. Finn knew he had to apologise and attempt to explain his behaviour the other day but he didn't know quite where to begin. Fortunately, it was Rachel who broke the silence.

"I'm sorry… if the other day I said something that offended you." Her voice was quiet and soft and for a split second all Finn thought about was pulling her against him and holding her tight. She sounded innocent and vulnerable and it made Finn's heart beat unevenly in his chest.

"No. God, no, of course not, Rachel." He shook his head. He knew he could trust her with this; he was only telling her something that a lot of people already knew, right? "It's just kind of a sensitive topic for me."

"You don't have to tell me anything." She announced, putting her hands up in front of her as if to stop him from what he was about to say. "We only just met, and all I was supposed to do was comment on how adorable you looked with your daughter," she blushed, "I wasn't meant to go prying and for that I am sorry."

Finn couldn't help but smile softly at her. "No… it's okay. It's just… Quinn left us almost straight after Hannah was born." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but every time he thought or talked about it, it ate him up inside. "We're currently going through a divorce. She didn't love me, and she didn't love Hannah. She didn't even _want_ Hannah when it came to custody, so now, I'm a full-time father." He sighed, looking down at his coffee again.

He couldn't see Rachel's broken expression from across the table.

"I mean, it's okay this way. I don't want Hannah to have a mother who doesn't love or want her. But still…" He trailed off, his voice suddenly going quiet.

"God, Finn, I am so sorry. I never would have asked if I knew that was the case. I didn't mean to bring up all the bad memories." She smiled apologetically, and when Finn didn't look up and meet her gaze, she reached across the table, taking his hand in hers. It was an impulsive move, they were still basically strangers to each other, but Finn didn't pull away. Instead, he looked up at her and gave her a crooked half smile that made her melt.

"It wasn't your fault," he said softly. "You didn't know." And he didn't blame her at all for it. He did want to change the subject though. "So, you said you were on your lunch break? What do you do?" He asked with a smile.

She squeezed his hand before dropping it and bringing it back over to her side of the table. "I'm an actress." She smiled proudly, and Finn's eyes widened. "I'm currently working on an off-Broadway production." She nodded. "You might like it. Maybe you could come see us perform sometime, and maybe we could go grab dinner or something –"

She almost put her hand over her mouth in shock. She didn't mean to make it sound like she was asking him out on a date but it kind of came out that way.

"D-Don't worry. Just forget I even said anything." Rachel felt a blush forming on her face so she looked down at her coffee cup again.

"No, that actually sounds really great. I need a break from ordering take-out and having to deal with a screaming child." He chuckled, looking up at her again. "Hannah's with her uncles at the moment and they love babysitting her so I could totally let them mind her for a night… if the offer still stands."

Rachel then realised they were staring into each other's eyes, not saying anything for a few moments. She unconsciously licked her lips, as she counted the freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks. Her eyes moved to his lips and the slight scruff that surrounded them along his jawline. "T-The offer still stands…" She said quietly, her eyes meeting his again.

Finn was lost in the moment until he felt something buzzing in the pocket of his jeans. Realising it was his phone; he pulled it out and looked at the number. It was Kurt and Blaine. "I'm sorry, Rachel, I should take this." She shrugged like it was no problem and he quickly answered. His face fell as he listened to what Blaine was saying on the other end of the line. He then sighed heavily before saying, "Thanks. Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way. Bye." He hung up and turned to look at Rachel.

"What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry, but Hannah's sick again and I have to go pick her up. And then I have to call work and tell them I'll be at home for another few days, and then I'll have to make an appointment at the doctor's and… ugh." He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated and quickly finished off the rest of his coffee. "Today was great, Rachel, and I'm really sorry but I have to go." He flashed her an apologetic look before grabbing his coat off the back of the chair and hurrying out of Starbucks.

She didn't even get a chance to ask for his number.

* * *

It had been a week and Rachel hadn't seen or heard from Finn again. She had come by the very same Starbucks every lunch break, hoping to see him there with a coffee waiting for her. But that seemed like a long shot. Nobody would wait in a crowded coffee shop every day just to wait for her. She wasn't anything special. And she couldn't call him either, because she didn't know his last time and there were so many people in New York City that she wouldn't know where to begin.

So, she did a bit of sleuthing (if Finn didn't think she was a stalker before, then he definitely would think so now) and she found out that her best friend Santana actually knew Finn's step-brother Kurt. And with that, she was able to get Finn's last name and find out his number and where he lived.

Yeah, she was totally a stalker. But really, it wasn't her fault that she had felt a connection to him every single time he looked into her eyes. She wanted to _know_ him, and she wanted him to be able to trust her. They were still basically strangers, but she knew he needed all the help he could get with Hannah and she wanted to do everything she could for him.

So now, somehow, she was standing outside his apartment, getting ready to knock on the front door. She could hear crying on the other side of the door and it made her cringe. He was probably tired and grumpy and the place was probably a mess. He was still at home with a sick baby daughter and he probably had gotten no sleep and he was probably irritable and… Rachel was starting to think that this whole thing was a mistake after all.

But… he might need help. So she knocked on the door lightly and waited patiently for him to answer.

* * *

He was on the couch, with a screaming Hannah in his arms. She had a fever and had been very sick for a week now. The doctor said there wasn't much that could be done about it, so Finn just had to wait it out until she was better. It broke his heart to see her in so much pain like this though. All she would do all day and all night is cry and cry and scream and as much as it gave Finn the world's biggest migraine, it also hurt him to see her like that. He wished he could make it all go away and make her smile and giggle the way he loved.

He heard the knock at the door, and all he could do was yell that the door was unlocked because if he moved Hannah, then she might start squealing again. His eyes widened in shock though when he realised it was Rachel who had opened the door and stepped inside his currently atrocious-looking apartment. He hadn't had a chance to clean up. Why didn't she call? How did she even know where he _lived_?

"Rachel!" He stood up quickly, still holding a crying Hannah in his arms. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

She frowned immediately. "I knew this was a bad time. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come."

"No, no! Wait. Please come in. I'm sorry about the mess." Hannah's cries died down a little bit as he spoke and she moved to stand in the middle of the living room space, looking around.

"I came because… well, I missed you." She felt herself blush. "I wanted to see you again. I'm sorry Hannah's still sick."

Finn shrugged, bouncing Hannah in his arms for a moment. "She'll be okay. The doctor said it wasn't a big deal." She had stopped crying completely by this point, so Finn sighed and placed her down on the couch before feeling her forehead. "Her fever's gone down a bit, but I'm sure it will come back any minute." He rolled his eyes, beginning to pick up some of the stuff that was scattered around the room.

"Here, let me help you out." Rachel started, moving to pick some things off the ground as well.

"Rachel, no." He said with an amused smile. "You don't have to help me clean up my own apartment."

"I want to." She said simply and Finn could only watch her in awe as she began to clean up his apartment.

He watched her for a moment before leaving Hannah on the couch and moving over to Rachel. He gently grabbed her arm. "Seriously, Rachel. It's okay. I mean it." He said with a smile, his thumb brushing along her arm gently and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Just relax."

"Fine, but if you ever need any help, please call me." She told him with an exasperated sigh. She didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard so maybe it was for the best if she just did what he asked of her.

"I'm glad you came over."

"Are you really?"

"Yeah."

He was still holding on to her arm, trapping her in place and the only place she could look was into his caramel coloured eyes. "Well… then I'm glad I came." She nodded quickly, trying to look somewhere else but completely failing. Her hand moved up to caress his cheek and his hand quickly moved to cover it, holding on to her hand tightly.

"Daddy!"

Finn's eyes widened suddenly and he let go of Rachel's hand and arm, whipping around to see Hannah sitting there on the couch, looking a lot more innocent than she actually was.

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Did she just- "

"D…Daddy!"

"Oh my God!" Finn yelled, hurrying over to Hannah and picking her up, twirling her around in his arms before holding her against him. "She said her first word. She's talking!" He breathed out, suddenly feeling overcome with emotions. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he held Hannah against his chest, and she let out a happy squeal. He put her down on the couch and kneeled in front of her. "Hannah, baby, can you say it again? Baby, say daddy. Daddy." He emphasised slowly, making sure it wasn't just and one-off fluke that she had spoken.

"Da- Dad…dy!" She said loudly and all Finn could do was smile and feel happy tears run down his cheeks.

He stood up and turned to Rachel, who was standing right in front of him with the biggest and brightest smile on her face. "Sh-She's talking, she's never talked before, she just said her first word!"

"Her first word was Daddy," Rachel told him with a warm smile. "She really loves you."

* * *

She was pinned up against the counter, her hands in his hair, tugging on it roughly as their tongues meshed together in her mouth. One of Finn's hands was resting against the counter and the other had a tight grip on her waist. It wasn't supposed to happen, but they had both just been so excited by Hannah's first word that Finn had practically attacked her with his lips, and Rachel wasn't complaining at all.

She was the one to pull away first though, reluctantly though, mind you. "Finn… you shouldn't… _you _can't…" She breathed heavily; she couldn't even form words when she was this close to him. "You barely know me… and you have a daughter and you can't…" She smiled softly at him, reaching up to caress his cheek.

Finn knew she was right but that didn't mean he wanted to stop kissing her. But Hannah was sitting right there so he didn't think he'd be setting the best example. "You're right. I just… you're beautiful and you're amazing, I just… I don't- "

"You don't trust women." She said with a tight smile. "It's okay, I get it."

"And if I don't trust you then you can't trust me, right?" He asked with a sigh and she nodded slightly.

She didn't want it to be like this. She had felt an instant connection and attraction as soon as they met and she had wanted to act on it for two weeks. He was sweet and kind and the best father she had ever seen, and he was gorgeous and had an amazing body (from what she had seen) and…

He wasn't hers. And he probably would never be hers.

She sighed, grabbing her coat that she had left hanging over a chair. "I should go. If you need help with Hannah, just let me know, okay? The offer still stands." She told him with a small nod, going back over to him to kiss his cheek softly. "Bye Hannah," she gave the seven month old a small wave before heading towards the door.

He didn't even get a chance to tell her how much he wanted her to stay.

* * *

It had been two weeks and they hadn't spoken. Hannah was better now and Finn had been back at work for a week and a half. He barely had time to _think_ about Rachel let alone call her, because he was just so far behind on everything. The longer it got though, the more he found that his chest would ache whenever someone mentioned Hannah talking or Hannah being sick because Rachel had been there for all of that.

And it wasn't until he saw the advertisement for Rachel's off-Broadway production that he knew what he wanted.

He didn't wear suits often. Ever, actually. The last time he wore one was for his wedding day, but he decided to get rid of that suit after Quinn had given him the divorce papers to sign. So he bought a new suit, and asked the salesperson where the best flowers were on this side of the city, and so he went there and he bought them. He hadn't really done this sort of thing for a woman before (Quinn never would have appreciated it), so he knew it would be a long shot for him.

He dressed Hannah up in her fanciest little dress and Kurt helped him put a bow in her hair and he in his tuxedo brought her down to Rachel's theatre. He was nervous; he hadn't been this nervous in a really long time. But it was a really good kind of nervous.

He watched her show. She was incredible. He had never heard her sing before but it sounded like God was missing one of his angels. He cried when her character died. Hannah was surprisingly well-behaved throughout the entire thing, like she knew her daddy had an important job to do tonight. He held the flowers tightly in his hand as everyone filed out of the theatre. He snuck around to the alley to wait for Rachel, and he saw a bunch of fans standing around waiting for autographs. He didn't know that sort of thing happened in off-Broadway shows.

She noticed him as soon as she walked out of the door. The one in the tux carrying a beautiful girl in a white dress, it was hard to miss.

"Finn..."

"You were amazing in there."

"Finn…"

"And you were beautiful. These are for you, by the way..." He tried handing her the flowers.

"Finn, please…"

He sighed, looking down. "Look, Rach, I made a mistake. A lot of mistakes, actually. Starting with believing that Quinn ever had feelings for me and ever wanted a baby with me in the first place." Seeing him frown, she placed her hand on his arm. "And she made me lose trust in not just women, but everyone, really. I can't trust anyone with Hannah besides Kurt and Blaine and my mom and I hate that." He looked over at his daughter, kissing her gently on the forehead.

"So, what are you doing here then?" She asked quietly, looking up at him through her dark eyelashes.

"I want a chance with you." He breathed. "I like you, Rachel. God, I _really _like you. You make me feel things I never did with Quinn and it's only been two weeks." He shook his head slightly, looking at her adoringly.

"But you said the other day we couldn't trust each other..."

"Take a chance on me." He whispered, feeling himself lean in closer to her. "We can go slow. I can learn to trust you, just please... take a chance."

Rachel was completely breathless by this point. No man had ever done quite as big of a gesture as Finn had done tonight. She didn't know how to react to it.

"You're worth taking the risk for, Rachel. I know it." He nodded fervently, his gaze growing soft as he watched her contemplate it in her head. "And if you're worried about Hannah, well, she's not gonna know any different, she's not even a year old yet." He shrugged, all the pieces seemed to fit perfectly in place.

Rachel bit her lip, reaching up and wrapping her arms around Finn's neck as she stood on her toes. "I wouldn't know how to be a mother figure for Hannah..."

"You don't have to be. We can just... go slow and see how it goes. You're an amazing person though, Rachel, and an amazing role model. You don't have to _be _Hannah's mom. We've been just fine on our own." He teased, nudging her playfully until her face broke out in a smile.

"Okay," she whispered softly, her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

"Okay?"

Okay." She repeated, smiling against his lips as he leaned in to kiss her. She pulled herself closer and revelled in the feel of him, making him know that she really was sure and she wanted this.

He loved his little baby girl. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he loved his baby girl. But he had always been willing to let the right woman in, the _perfect _woman in for him.


End file.
